Scotland: Did the emotion of Ukraine play-off overwhelm Clarke's side?

The bad guys were cast as Scotland went into their World Cup date. They came out of it with nothing.

The Scots were willing on Ukraine and they got their wish as they fell to a chastening Hampden defeat. It has been 24 years since Scotland returned to the finals.

The home side froze as Ukraine thrived on the raw emotion of the occasion, their first major sporting appearance since Russia's invasion began in February.

It was arguably Scotland's biggest game in a long time, yet the paucity of their performance was stark. They were a shadow of the side who had dispatched high-flying Denmark at a rowdy Hampden six months earlier to guarantee home advantage for the play-off semi-final.

Scotland had gone eight games without a loss before Ukraine arrived.

The rearranged tie took place 69 days after the original date and the build-up brought an increased spotlight on both sides.

Is the pressure and intensity of the occasion proof that Scotland's downfall was due to the world against them?

Ryan Christie, who came off the bench at half-time with Scotland 0-1 down, said that they spoke about that on the way to the game.

Since we met up for the camp, I think we have done that. They played better than us. That is the most frustrating thing.

Goalkeeper Craig Gordon, 39, acted as a one-man barricade at times but knows his last chance of playing at a World Cup has now slipped through his fingers. He thinks Scotland ran out of steam at the right time.

Gordon said that the emotion was not a factor in the game.

We didn't manage to cope with the amount of games everyone has been playing and they did.

We did not have one of our best performances when we needed it. We were beaten by the better team.

'The toughest 10 days of my career'

Scotland captain Andy Robertson has been through a lot in his life, and the 3-1 loss will take a while to get over.

The agony kept on coming for the left-back, who had been pipped to the title by Manchester City.

Scotland left themselves too much to do in the second half when they were down 2-0. As is often the case with Scotland, it was the hope that made the difference as Artem Dovbyk confirmed the defeat deep into the final minutes.

Robertson said that he could not answer if the emotion made a difference to them.

This group has never achieved something like this before and they were highly motivated to get to the World Cup.

Sometimes you need to take bumps in the road and this is a huge one.

It is the toughest 10 days of my career. Everything is emotional, mentally, physically. I will deal with that myself, I will go away and think about that, but I am just gutted for the guys in there.

I was desperate for them to get to a World Cup and play on the biggest stage and unfortunately we have fallen short but we need to be ready the next time.